The present invention relates to carrying bags with handles and, more particularly, to an extensible handle bag apparatus capable of manufacture on high-speed manufacturing equipment, wherein the handles of the bag are made from an extensible material which provide comfort to a person's hands when carrying the apparatus, as well as which provide substantial load carrying capabilities to the apparatus itself.
Bags manufactured with handles have been known in the art for many, many years. Many of these bags have utilized carrier members, or patches of material for binding the handles to the inside, or outside, surfaces of the bag. Examples of such prior art can be found in Winesett, U.S. Pat. No. 2,469,536; Steen, U.S. Pat. No. 2,838,224; and Class, U.S. Pat. No. 3,439,591.
Although such prior art have been functionally satisfactory, they have, in many cases, been found to be uncomfortable to a person's hands when carrying relatively heavy loads for an extended period of time--due primarily to the handle configuration and type of material used for the handles. Additionally, inasmuch as such handles have not been intended for manual extensible deployability after the bag is manufactured, they have been attached to the bag during the manufacturing process in such a way where at least a portion of the handle actually extends above and past the top peripheral edge of the bag itself--thus precluding the ability for the bag to be manufactured on high-speed equipment.
Accordingly, few if any of the prior art bags teach, much less disclose, a bag having an extensible handle which is attached and maintained below the top peripheral edge of the bag, during and after the manufacture--thereby facilitating relatively high-speed manufacturing of the apparatus. Indeed, inasmuch as at least a portion of the handles in the prior art are positioned above the upper peripheral edges of the web of bag material, the likelihood of the handles causing a jam, or other form of manufacturing malfunction (due to otherwise protruding handle members) during the cutting of web of bag material, or any other step of manufacturing, is often realized. Furthermore, few, if any of such prior art devices disclose an extensible handle which has only the attachment regions (where the handle is affixed either to the bag directly, or to handle patches) stretched independently of the remainder of the handles so as to increase the surface area for better adherence to the bag and/or patch of material.
Additionally, while prior art, such as Baron, Great Britain Specification No. 786,327, does disclose the use of extensible material for use as handles for a bag, such handles are not intended to be manually stretched from a retracted position below the top peripheral edge of the fully assembled bag, to a fully deployed position upon initial use of the bag by an individual. Indeed, such prior art discloses that such handles are stretched during the manufacturing process and then maintained in such a stretched position thereafter--thereby precluding high speed manufacture, as well as precluding individual formability of the handles to a respective individuals hands.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an extensible handle bag apparatus which can utilize an extensible handle attached and maintained below the top peripheral edge of the fully assembled bag during the manufacturing of same so as to facilitate manufacturing of the apparatus on high speed manufacturing equipment.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an extensible handle bag apparatus which has the attachment regions of the extensible handles pre-stretched during the manufacturing of same so as to increase the surface area for maximized adherence to the bag material itself and/or to corresponding handle attachment patches, while maintaining the remainder of the handles in a retracted position below the top peripheral edge of the assembled bag apparatus.
It is still further an object of the present invention to provide an extensible handle bag apparatus having handles which are stretchably extended up and past the top peripheral edge of the fully assembled bag apparatus by manual deployability by an individual upon initial use of the extensible handle bag apparatus and, which are then substantially maintained in their stretched deployed state after such initial use.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an extensible handle bag apparatus which utilizes an extensible handle which is comfortable to the hands of the individual carrying the extensible handle bag apparatus when the bag itself is supporting a load therewithin, and wherein such extensible handles improve the load carrying capabilities of the apparatus, which, in turn, reduces the likelihood of severing the bag at or near the handle attachment regions during such use.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent in light of the present specification, claims and drawings.